Being Me
by The Girl Dragons
Summary: Set in present time. Each of the newsies is different and each has a story behind their personality. And each has a reason for being who they are.


Notes: I got this idea when my dad commented on his thoughts that I don't like being alone. Then, this idea just hit me. I hate it when parents think they know you, when in reality, they couldn't be farther from the truth. I'm going to try and make one for each of the newsies. They will all be in modern day.

XXX

My parents say that no one likes being alone. Well, then they don't know me very well. Just because they were a kid once, they assume that we're exactly the same. How can they expect everyone to be the same...or even understand the mind of a pessimist?

You might have to look around a bit before spotting me in the crowd. If you watch closely in the school hallways, you'll usually find me leaning against the wall or against the lockers, arms folded and a scowl on my face. People see that and immediately know to leave me alone.

You would think the black clothes and the steady glare would scare everyone away. I can't count the times I've wished that everyone would simply shut up and let me have a few minutes of peace. But I guess it's too hard for their overactive minds to understand.

A few people don't seem to get the message. I guess my next step is to stop people from staring in my direction. A pessimist in a school of optimists stands out a lot. The sound of loud laughter to my right catches my attention and I glare at them. How can they be so happy? Any laughs at a joke are only temporary, so there's really no reason to laugh at all.

Guy and girls push passed me, trying not to pay attention to me, scared that I'll hurt them if they look too closely. A lot of people mistake me for being goth, but I'm not. The fact is, I'm as close as you can get without actually being it. Everything about me is very ironic.

For example, my parents are the most cheerful people in the world, at least that's how they seem. Me? I'm their optimistic son, who never socializes and stays in his room all day. I never get phone calls or invitations to parties. They don't understand that that's just the way I like it.

At the first party I was invited to, I stood in the corner the entire time and never moved. I stared at the people surrounding me, which resulted in scaring most of them. That might have been the first party, but it was also the last. And the thing was, I didn't care to go to another. It was a waste of valuable time. After that, my parents never forced me to go to a party again.

Now, if they even hint at socializing, I'm immediately off in another world and 'forget' that they mentioned it. Was that party tonight at 7? I thought it was tomorrow. I think they're beginning to see the picture this time.

Something else that's ironic? The t-shirt that I'm wearing. It has a gigantic smiley face on it. It seems perfectly normal until you note the large 'X' drawn on it in permanent marker. I know this seems strange, but I do like smiley faces. Even stranger because I'm a guy. I guess just seeing them reminds me that I'm different from everyone else. And they are very simple to draw, very unlike me...I'm very complicated to understand.

There are some things everyone should know about me. One, never make direct eye contact. Okay, so that's not really needed, but after I yelled at one kid who was staring at me, nobody dared to look me directly in the eye again.

The next thing you should know is not to try and make me smile. There's this one girl who simply won't leave me alone. I try to avoid her as much as I can. She'll do just about anything to make me act cheerful. So far, she hasn't gotten her wish. No matter how many times I tell her to go away, she won't listen.

She pops up at the most unexpected moments, her face practically begging for me to smile if only for a second. All she receives for her hard work is a perfectly placed scowl and occasionally a low growl of annoyance. She kinda gets in the way of the whole 'loner' thing.

Maybe someday everyone will understand just why I like being alone. Just maybe they'll get the point that I don't like smiling, laughing or even socializing in general. And maybe, just maybe, my parents will understand someday that I like being a loner.


End file.
